Top 50 NHL Prospects: Right wings dominate 41-50 group in Fall rankings

By HF Staff

October 26th, 2015

Photo: Anaheim Ducks goaltending prospect John Gibson won his first four games of the 2015-16 season playing for the Ducks’ new AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls (courtesy of Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)

The Hockey’s Future ranking of the Top 50 NHL prospects is a group project that attempts to determine which prospects will go on to have the greatest impact in their NHL careers. This generally means the highest upside in terms of points but – as in the case of some of the defensemen – the overall effect a player like a Duncan Keith can have on a game does not go unnoticed.

Goalies are always difficult to predict, so there are fewer names on this list for that position. Part of the reason for this seeming slight is that goaltenders often graduate from prospect status (according to HF’s criteria) by the time they are ready to make their NHL debut. For every Marc-Andre Fleury or Carey Price, there are players like last year’s hero, Andrew Hammond, who lack pedigree but come up huge when needed. There are also examples in the Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne stories – goalies drafted very late who end up becoming stars.

No list that cuts off at 50 can accurately capture all the exciting talent coming up into the NHL in the future, but we have tried to present players who will make a real difference for their organizations at some point in their careers.

Here, then, is the 41-50 group in HF’s Fall 2015 ranking of the Top 50 NHL prospects.